


i'll be home for the holidays

by Fluoradine



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (latter is less-mentioned but it's there), Canon Compliant, Christmas, Established Relationship, F/F, Hanukkah, Holidays, Jewish Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Long-Distance Relationship, Post-Recall, Snowball Fight, Some Plot, Trans Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Trans Fareeha "Pharah" Amari, Watchpoint: Gibraltar, mentions of Canada
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 00:46:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13135617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluoradine/pseuds/Fluoradine
Summary: It's the holidays, but Angela Ziegler is far from kicking back and relaxing. She's looking forward to her girlfriend, Fareeha Amari, finally coming back from her long mission to spend the season together, but Overwatch's never-lenient plans send her off on a transfer mission just before Fareeha can get back. It's nothing what Angela was hoping for, but when she's surrounded by friends like Mei, Lena, and Zarya, she can't help but try to enjoy the benefits of this unhappy situation.my contribution for the support union's secret santa, as a gift for hugerez!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> happy holidays hugerez!! this was a great first try at writing pharmercy, thanks for loving it so much and giving me the opportunity to write them. i also loved getting back at the zaryamei and finally doing some emilena - tbh the best present i could've gotten was the chance to write all these wlw couples at once..... the real holiday blessings are girls in love, folks.
> 
> some more personal notes - firstly, i wrote jewish mercy with my experiences as a jewish girl in mind, so i know it might not be perfect for everyone but i think it should suffice.   
> secondly, thank you guys so much for reading all my fics this year. i promised myself at the beginning of the year that i would start taking writing seriously and actually make more than one fic per fandom, and i'm so shocked that i actually did this much in one year. even if you haven't read any of my other stuff and don't really care about this sappiness, the fact that you clicked on this fic and gave it a shot makes me incredibly happy. every kudo or comment i get brightens my day, just knowing that someone's liked something i've written enough to tell me. i'm not gonna take up any more room before the fic thanking everyone over and over again, but just know that i couldn't have written half as much as i did this year without your kind words and support. have a great christmas if you celebrate, happy quite-late hanukkah if you're like me, and a fantastic new year all around!!

Angela was out of it. It was December the seventh, and she was already behind on her holiday schedule. She hadn’t bought any presents, was missing her decorative lights, and had barely eaten any sugary treats. Often, she thought she was much too busy to pay attention to the holidays this year; they demanded a whole lot more of her time than she had, and she couldn’t imagine balancing them with her medical responsibilities that were always in high demand. 

But she wasn’t just out of the loop on seasonal events. With all the trouble Overwatch had gotten into recently, Angela had started putting her personal needs aside in place of working extra hours and going on more missions. So far last month she’d missed two surgeries, forgotten her estrogen at least thrice, and had coffee for both breakfast and lunch for most of November. 

So Angela was out of it. But wasn’t she always? Being Overwatch’s best doctor was a job with very few perks, and ‘I’m on break’ was a sentence straight out of a dream. If she could take a day off, maybe even three or four, she wouldn’t need to ask the commanders for anything else again. But the chances of that wish being granted were slim, and even if she did get a break, the stress would follow her to any luxury destination on the rock. What Angela really needed was a miracle, and she needed one fast. 

“Four packets of rice, a bag of grapes, some chai teabags…”

Her pen scribbled the grocery list down as Fareeha recited it over the holocall. “Some chickpeas, strawberries, pineapple, cheese crackers…right, we need naan, I can’t forget that again…”

“Any sweet stuff?” Angela asked, and Fareeha scrunched up her face. 

“Only if Ana doesn’t know.”

Angela snorted. “You’re thirty-five, _liebling_. Can’t you eat cake without telling your mother?”

“Sorry, it’s an old habit. Alright, some coffee cake, too.”

Angela smiled as she wrote it down on her list. It had been five weeks since the two women had been in the same room together, with Fareeha out on field missions since the beginning of November. This little conversation was the most they’d had in the last week, but Angela was grateful to hear her voice talk about anything, even groceries. 

“I’ll buy them all next weekend. I’ve been meaning to go into town, anyways.” Angela folded up the finished list and put it in her pocket. The good news had come this morning; Fareeha was finally coming back on the eleventh. They’d been working through getting everything she’d need once she was back in Gibraltar, mainly fresh food in their shared residence’s fridge - no one deserved to come home to eat cafeteria food, as Angela knew from experience. 

Fareeha wrung out a wet towel over the screen. “Is the piano tuned? I hope I haven’t forgotten how to play your favourites. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I couldn’t bend my fingers after this mission.”

“I’ll ask Satya for help with it,” Angela said. “Is it really that hot over there? I didn’t think Dhaka got that high in the winter.”

“We’re in Khulna. And I just finished training,” Fareeha sighed as she secured the towel around her flat chest. “How’s your gym training been going, by the way? You never keep me updated on that."

Angela chuckled. “Do you see any improvement?” She flexed her measly bicep, a move that made Fareeha laugh and Angela grin. Her girlfriend’s laughter was a sound that never failed to brighten even the darkest of days. 

“When I get back, you’re gonna get some serious personal training,” Fareeha said. “Better get stretching right now, _habibti_.”

“I can’t wait until you’re home.” Angela sighed. It had been so long since her room had been filled by voices, talking and laughing about anything and everything. All of the work she did during the day would be worth doing if she could come back into her girlfriend’s arms every night. She wouldn’t even need a break with Fareeha here, just the lazy hours of the early morning and late night when they were together, too close for any force to break them apart. 

“I can’t wait to get home,” Fareeha said. “It’s going to be so nice to see you again. I love you, Angie.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Angela blew her a kiss, and Fareeha blew her one back, both smiling like little kids on Christmas morning. 

 

The cafeteria lights were broken again. Angela could’ve sworn someone replaced them just last week, but four bulbs near the coffee machine and toaster were out like they’d never been on. As nicely as Overwatch had renovated the old building for the recall, it was still a bit of a dump, just how Angela remembered it. She had a lot of memories from her old support agent days at this exact table, camped out near the coffee machine with a stack of reports to finish for school.

And here she was doing the exact same thing, except with checkup records instead of case studies. Her day had gone just as she’d expected it to - one successful surgery at noon and treatments for injured agents until seven, whereafter she threw herself down on the couch and got a good nap. It was nearly midnight now, and half of her to-do list still wasn’t checked off. She knew it would be a while before that list shortened, and she could spend more time at home than time in the sanitizer-scented medbay.

Home was a strange word for Angela to refer to Watchpoint: Gibraltar with. She didn’t remember calling this place home when she was younger, but now the two words were practically synonyms. She supposed it had to do with comfort; having any place to go home these days to was satisfying by Angela’s standards, even if it was a semi-illegal army base with thousands of micro-problems popping up day after day. 

She was on her fifth record and fourth cup of black coffee when the doors to the cafeteria opened, and the shadow of Jack Morrison lugged himself inside. Angela tried not to groan when she saw him - she, like most of the base, wasn’t very fond of the old Overwatch commander, a man who had little to no authority yet still acted like the boss of everyone and their mother. Those positions fell to Winston and Lena now, though some people were always stuck in the glory days, Angela supposed. 

She focused back on the page she’d been reading as Morrison stumbled over, grabbing a bagel from the counter and popping it in the toaster. His heavy grunts were fairly distracting, and Angela frowned as she looked up from the report. “Good evening, Jack.”

Before she’d even finished her sentence, Morrison dropped the jar of jam. He cursed as it shattered on the ground, and Angela gasped. “Jesus, Ziegler. I didn’t even notice you were here.”

“It’s alright,” Angela grumbled as she got out of her seat. “Tough mission today?”

Morrison shook his head. “No, just some hard training. We got stuck out in a rainstorm for a few hours. Athena didn’t recognize my voice, and none of the rookies had their recognition done, either.”

“How horrible. Do you want me to check you for a cold?”

“That’s alright, Ziegler,” Morrison snorted. “I’m sure you’ve had your share of hard work today.”

Angela nodded as she grabbed a dustpan out of the cupboard. “I was doing some checkups on the St. Petersburg mission team. They’re almost all back in shape - Molly’s surgery went over perfectly, and she should recover fine.”

“Too bad for Prince. I’m sorry you lost him. If I was there, I might’ve been able to get him some extra time….” Morrison had grabbed a cloth from the counter, and was on the ground wiping up the jam already. Angela joined him, her legs aching with pain as she squatted down. 

“It’s alright. These things…. they have to happen eventually. I can’t bring everyone back alive. It’s kind of like how it used to be.” She fell quiet as she swept up the rest of the glass. The two rarely ever talked with each other, and had never really spoken about old Overwatch before. Those times had been difficult - different, for him - and Angela knew that bad memories like that were better covered up. 

“Well, your next time out should be a little lower-risk,” Morrison said, standing up and throwing the cloth into the sink. “Shouldn’t have to do much last-minute packing for it…”

“Last minute packing?” Angela stopped. Her calendar didn’t have any missions scheduled out until the new year. Why would she need to start packing now? “When’s my next time out?”

“The end of this week. Lúcio can’t go, so you were next on the list,” Morrison said, letting his unneeded involvement in mission affairs show off. “You’re getting transferred to look after the Winnipeg base for a few weeks with Oxton, Zhou and Zaryanova. Did no one tell you?”

Angela’s heart dropped. “The end of this week? Wh…what day?”

“The seventh.” Morrison said. Angela bit her lip to stop the biggest groan she’d ever had from coming out. Of course it was the seventh. Just her luck that the day Fareeha came back was the day she was leaving. It made her angry, but not as angry as she was disappointed, and not as disappointed as she was sad for Fareeha, who had been so excited to finally get to see her again. 

“This…what?” Angela threw her hands up for lack of a better reaction. “Why did no one tell me I’d been transferred?”

“Things move fast around here, Ziegler. Especially now. You can talk to Winston if you want out, but I doubt he’ll let you off.” 

The toaster beeped, and Morrison grabbed the bagel. Angela fell back onto the chair, her limbs all but giving out. God, she should’ve expected it - this much time without being on a mission never happened anymore. Morrison was right; things did move fast around here, and a break for the holidays was only a silly wish she had, never to be a reality. 

Morrison trudged back over to the door as Angela slumped her head down on the desk, defeated. “Get a good night’s sleep, doctor,” he said. “How late did the St. Petersburg mission come back last time, by the way?”

“Three hours late.” 

Morrison didn’t respond. He left the cafeteria, leaving Angela to wonder if missions going that awry were just the new normal around here. She kept her head down on the desk, not enough energy left to finish the reports tonight. They would have to stay on her unfinished to-do list for now, just as they had yesterday and would tomorrow, too.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been five months since the blackout. On July the eighth, 2077, all of Overwatch’s systems had shut down, been cleaned of all their data, and plunged into darkness along with the surrounding 25,000 kilometres of land. When the power came back on a few hours later, the Gibraltarian embassy and several Moroccan bases had lost all their important files, and the whole world was left in shambles by Talon’s biggest power move against them yet. 

Angela Ziegler was trying not to think about the consequences of it. Things had changed rapidly since then. Overwatch had been fighting a worldwide battle for months, with more agents out in the field than they’d had since the days of the Omnic Crisis. The message of peace that she stood for felt more like fickle hope with every new agent that died, and she was finding it harder and harder to put on her Valkyrie suit and defend it in the field. Everyone was working ten times past their limit to have a fighting chance in this war with Talon, and at this rate, Angela wasn’t sure how much longer they could do it for. 

The passenger plane was quiet as they flew over the night sky. In the polite silence, Angela wondered why they hadn’t taken an Orca craft - she almost missed the rowdy hoop competitions that always happened en route to a mission. She was also still wondering how the agents had been let on to a public flight - all this time she’d assumed Overwatch were public enemies, and couldn’t go anywhere without the whole world having to know about it. 

Mei-Ling Zhou sat next to her, enjoying the in-flight drink service on her second glass of wine. Aleksandra Zaryanova was asleep on her shoulder, snoring loud enough to get some glares from their aisle-mates. Lena Oxton had a seat in a different section, and was also fast asleep after fifteen straight hours of flying. Angela wished she could’ve done the same, but the turbulence over the sea had kept her wide awake for the whole trip. 

“I’ve never been to Canada before,” Mei interrupted the quiet to note. “I hear it’s nice, though. Cold and snowy, kind of like home.” 

“I have missed seeing snow.” Angela said, fiddling her fingers as she stared into the dark sky. Thoughts about Fareeha were at the forefront of her mind - her flight must’ve landed by now, anyways. She hoped she was enjoying the coffee cake left in the fridge, and was liking the feeling of clean sheets underneath her again.

The bad news had been relayed two days ago. Fareeha hadn’t been upset - she, of all people, knew how annoying it was to be sent out on such short notice. Satya had still helped Angela tune the piano for her, and she’d turned the temperature to a pleasurable chill before she left. She’d felt a little sting when she shut the door, not knowing how long it would be before she got to be in the same room as her girlfriend, but she’d had to leave it behind, and hope for the best in the future. 

The captain came on to tell them they were descending into Winnipeg. Zarya woke with a groan, stretching her arms much too close to Angela’s nose. “How long was I out for, _mishka_?”

“Three hours.” Mei chirped, downing the rest of her wine as Zarya sat up, grumbling something in Russian as she shifted in the seat, leaning on her arm for extra support. 

Mei and Zarya were girlfriends, and had been together for almost two years. They’d met through Overwatch, and were probably the best thing to come out of the disastrous recall. Angela had been there to see most of it happen, hearing about Mei’s nervous crush first before watching them clumsily settle into a relationship. Seeing their love survive in such a stressful time often gave Angela hope that her own relationship would make it through these hard times, and follow the same eventually-steady path. 

“Do you want to go back to sleep? I can wake you up when we land.” Mei suggested. Zarya shook her head, leaning back hard onto the chair. 

“I’ll be alright, _mishka_. Angela, are you awake?”

Angela nodded. “Welcome to Canada, Aleksandra. You’ve been stationed here before, right?”

“Only once last August. I didn’t think I would be coming back so soon,” Zarya said. “Why are we going again?”

“We’re setting up another base. Winston had mentioned expanding to our old watchpoints before, but I didn’t think he was serious until last week.”

“How could he not be? Gibraltar can’t be very safe after what happened. I’m surprised we didn’t do it sooner.”

“You’re probably right,” Angela said. She knew that Gibraltar was far from a safe place to call home, but she still loved it for what it was. If they ever had to leave it for good, they would be leaving behind so many of her memories, both good and terrible, and Angela couldn’t possibly imagine that. 

Mei nodded. “Plus it feels so empty most of the time with everyone out. Maybe we’ll meet some new people here.”

“Is anyone stationed there already?” Zarya asked.

Mei shrugged. “No one knows. Well, Lena probably knows, but I can’t wake her up.”

The three fell back into silence as the plane kept descending. Zarya reluctantly fell back asleep, this time Mei sliding a pillow underneath her head. She tapped Angela on the shoulder after a few minutes. “You’re Jewish, right? Are we going to have Hanukkah this week, or do you not want to celebrate?”

“We can, if you’d like.” Hanukkah gifts were another thing Angela had forgotten in the Overwatch rush, but they came much lower on her list than everything else. Perhaps there were some stores she could buy something nice in on the way, assuming she would have time to celebrate on this mission at all. 

“It’s going to be a weird holiday. I hope we can get a tree, at least,” Mei said. “I’ve always wanted a real Christmas tree. I had a fake one when I was a kid. Somehow, it always smelt like cheap plastic…”

“You celebrated Christmas?”

“Mostly for the presents. And candy from my granddad,” Mei smiled as the memory came up. “He used to bake cakes all the time for me and my sisters. I remember trying to make one of them for last year’s Christmas party….” Her smile fell. “No, not last year. Eleven years ago.”

She sighed before Angela could react. “I’m sorry you won’t get to spend your holiday with Fareeha, Angie. This time of year is supposed to be spent with friends, lovers, family…Overwatch just keeps splitting everyone apart. But I want to make the most of it. So no one has to feel alone, and we can all feel weird together.”

“Oh, Mei. You don’t have to worry about me.” Angela said, but Mei shook her head. 

“No, I’m not worrying. I’m just saying that I know no one wanted to come on this mission. But we don’t exactly have a choice. And even though it sucks, we can still try to do nice things around it. We can make the most out of an unhappy situation, and maybe we’ll end up having fun instead.”

Angela didn’t say anything back. Mei was right. Everything was so messy that being sad about it was next to useless. Right now Fareeha was recovering from weeks of hard work, Zarya felt weird about coming back to Canada, Lena was full of stress, and Mei still wasn’t used to life after Antarctica. They were all in the same weird boat, and there was no use in pretending like they were on smooth waters just yet. 

The more Angela thought about it, the more it made sense. Mei was rarely ever pessimistic; she saw hope in everything, even when it was hard to. Angela thought she did, too - but she’d gotten into a slump of negativity recently that would snowball into a disaster if she kept looking down. Mei’s thought was only a suggestion to look back on the bright side for once in a while - perhaps it would be a mindset worth switching to. 

She kept thinking on it as they landed in Canada, got off the plane and gathered their bags. A shuttle had been sent to pick them up, and she sat silently in the backseat as Lena awed at the snow piled up on the roadside. It took about an hour and a half to get into the driveway of the base, and all four of them had trouble standing on two feet when they eventually got out. 

The Winnipeg base was at least five times smaller than Gibraltar. Six other agents were already on-site, and were milling around the grounds moving assets and boxes. The newly-arrived agents all stood together in the bathroom mat-sized yard, staring at the antennas and dishes piled with snow on top of the tiny communications building. No one had to wonder why this place got shut down. 

The residence building was the smallest one on site, painted a chipped navy blue with a faded Overwatch symbol on the side. The shuttle driver directed them to it, and after her first look, Angela honestly thought they were staying in the gardening shed.

“This place looks nice!” Mei said as soon as she stepped inside. The doorframe of the common room creaked, and her smile instantly turned into a cringe. “Well…okay, maybe it’s a little bit ugly.”

Zarya dropped her bag on the ground. “Well, were you expecting a four-star, Mei?”

The interior of the building wasn’t much better than the outside. Whoever had painted it used the same navy-blue colour for the walls inside, but obviously they’d mixed it with a much darker colour to make the splotchy shade of brown Angela was seeing in the dark. 

“I wasn’t expecting a construction site either.” Mei frowned. “How many people were stationed here before? It doesn’t look like it can hold more than six.”

“Maybe it just needs a little dust-up.” Lena suggested. She started to walk around the room, poking at the covered chairs and tables. “I think we could put it together quite nicely, actually. Look, we can move that couch over here, and set up the comm over there…”

The other three women left Lena to her redesigning as they went to find rooms. They all took single quarters close by each other, and when Zarya eventually turned the heat on, they changed out of their stuffy uniforms into pyjamas. It had been a long day of doing nothing; and surprisingly, it exhausted Angela much more than her usual work did. 

The bed in her room was quite comfortable, and Angela ended up getting a nap on it. The dream that came with it was short, but lovely; she was skating on a frozen pond with Fareeha, teaching her how to do a figure eight before they tripped over each other, laughing as snow fell all around them. 

She hadn’t been asleep for ten minutes before her phone buzzing, waking her up. _Schatzi_ , the contact read. Half-awake and already smiling like a child, Angela reached for the phone and put it to her ear. 

“Hi, sweetheart.”

“Angie!” Fareeha’s soft voice filled Angela’s ears. “I didn’t think you’d be awake right now.”

“I just woke up. How are you doing? Was your flight okay?”

“Oh, it was alright. Hana was streaming for most of the time and got all of us involved in her game. I’m just happy to be back in an air-conditioned place for now. Thanks for changing the temperature, by the way. You always remember the littlest things.”

“I’m glad you noticed,” Angela smiled. “Could you remember your way around?”

“Actually, I had to get Genji to point me around for a few minutes. I leave for a month and suddenly I can’t even remember where the bathroom is.”

“It felt like much longer than a month to me. And the bathroom is next to the broom closet.” Angela chuckled back. Knowing that her girlfriend was out of harm’s way for the next two weeks made her feel a million times better than she had this morning. If anyone deserved time off for the holidays, it was Fareeha. She’d worked hard, and deserved at least one night of rest in a comfortable bed. 

“I love the decorations you put up,” Fareeha said. “The mistletoe over every doorway is a nice touch. Who gave them to you?”

“I got them from the greenhouse. Mei might’ve helped a bit. She’s here with me now - well, not right not, but in the other room.”

“Right, you’re in Canada! Seen any moose yet?”

“Not yet - but I’ll keep my eyes open,” Angela said. “ _Liebling_ , haven’t you been here before? Surely you’d remember the types of animals that live this far out from the city.”

“Sorry. It’s been a while since I visited, anyways. I forget these things too easily.”

Angela paused. Fareeha’s voice had dropped, something that usually signalled her mood dropping as well. “You’re feeling okay, Fareeha?” she asked, bringing the phone closer to her ear. 

Fareeha hummed on the other line. “I’m alright. I just wish you were here with me. I hate being home when you’re so far away. It doesn’t feel right.”

“I know. It doesn’t feel right to me, either. I wish I was lying down beside you,” Angela said. “Maybe taking another nap with you. You’ll certainly need to catch up on those.”

“Oh, a nap would be nice,” Fareeha’s voice went back up. “Would you get us extra blankets?”

“So many. Pillows, too. Only the most comfortable ones we have.” Angela’s heart ached as she talked, knowing that hearing her girlfriend’s voice only made her want to run straight back to Gibraltar. Seeing snow for the first time in years was nice, but Angela knew there was nothing she wouldn’t give to be at home with Fareeha sleeping in her arms right now. 

Just as she was about to complain, she remembered Mei’s advice. Right now, Fareeha was on a well-deserved break, and was enjoying a slice of coffee cake in her air-conditioned quarters. Plus, they’d gotten the chance to talk to each other, and it barely even sounded like they were on opposite sides of the planet. Overwatch might be able to tear them apart physically, but Angela knew as her chest loosened that there was nothing that could keep her away from her girlfriend, not even Talon’s evil schemes or any ocean that stood in between them. 

“I should probably go check on the work,” Angela said, groaning as she sat up. “I’m sure the others don’t want to get started without me.”

“And I should probably go to bed,” Fareeha responded, her yawn nearly drowning out the end of her sentence. “I want to call you when I wake up, okay? Just to make sure you didn’t get eaten by moose overnight. Would that be alright?”

“It always is, Fareeha. Love you.” Angela blew her a kiss over the phone, and smiled when Fareeha blew her one back. 

She sighed as Fareeha hung up, and her phone screen went blank. The next few weeks were going to be difficult. Hopefully Angela would have as much free time as Fareeha surely would to call, and wouldn’t be too tired to talk. Getting used to having a long-distance relationship had been straining before, and while Angela was sure she would still have trouble with it now, she was going to think on the bright side. Things would end up okay, even if it took a little time. 

 

Mei, Zarya and Lena were all sitting in the common room when Angela came to join them. Mugs were set on the floor and clipboards were resting in their laps as they lounged around a gas fireplace, lit with a bright orange flame. It looked like quite the cozy scene, if Angela could ignore all the furniture still left uncovered and the ugly paint covering the walls.

“The power works,” Lena said as Angela sat down next to her. “I found this behind a table, and we were talking about putting up a tree in front of it. I found some candles in the cupboard for a menorah, too. Did you bring yours, Ang?”

“No, but they’re easy to make. I’ll teach you how to do it if we have time away from the mission.”

“Speaking of which, do we start tonight?” Zarya asked.

Lena shook her head. “Nah. I talked to Porter and he says we don’t have to get going on any diagnostics until tomorrow. We deserve the night off, anyways. Especially you, Ang.”

“Oh, Lena, as if we all aren’t dog tired.” Angela snorted, both surprised and happy that they were getting the night off. This was her first real night off in three months - she had been so busy complaining that she never got any that she’d never thought to plan for one. 

“I got a good nap upstairs,” Mei said with a stretch of her arms. “Well, mostly good except for Alex trying to push me off the bed.”

“Ah, but I always forget you’re much sturdier than I expect,” Zarya noted. “You’re like a little rock, Mei.”

“Not as bouldery, though.” Mei said as she rolled into her girlfriend’s lap, pushing the clipboard away to rest her head. 

“I’m not sure what that means, but sure.” Zarya smiled, and kissed Mei on the forehead as she giggled, making Angela giggle a little in turn. They were acting the same way they’d acted when they first got together, and it was almost sickeningly sweet to see again. 

“Hold on,” Lena grabbed her mug off the ground. “Let’s have a toast. To Overwatch, and to celebrating the holidays with some of our best friends.”

The other two grabbed their mugs and held them high. Angela’s hands rested awkwardly without a cup of her own, and she took a pen off of the ground instead. “To the holidays.” she repeated, and everyone took long, gulping sips of whatever was in their cup.

It was strange, but Angela was starting to think that this mission might not be all bad. Fareeha was safe and resting back home, her friends were enjoying themselves so far, and she was starting to think positively about this upcoming experience. Maybe it would be worth coming all the way across the world for, and would make her holidays the relaxing experiences they really needed to be.


	3. Chapter 3

“Alex! Don’t get too far behind!”

Mei giggled as she lugged the sled up the hill, paving her way through the untouched snow. Zarya sighed with a smile as she ran up behind her, grabbing and hoisting her up as Mei squealed. 

“I’ll show you far behind, _mishka_.” she laughed, carrying Mei all the way to the top of the hill before dropping her into the bed of snow. Mei couldn’t stop laughing as Zarya fell down next to her, and tackled her as their sleds rolled all the way back down the hill. 

Angela couldn’t help but feel her heart swell as she watched the two horsing around. She hadn’t seen them like this in a while - it had been so long since they’d first gotten together, all nervous and giggly about being in a new relationship. Seeing that that spark of love had survived the last five months filled her up with hope, and she watched as they threw snow on each other with million-dollar smiles on their faces. 

December had passed so quickly. One moment it had been Angela’s first night in the cold Winnipeg weather, and the next she was already used to the brisk Canadian climate. The workload had been much smaller than what Angela had expected, and the four women had been enjoying the time spent away from it as much as possible. It seemed time off was the best motivator to get things done, as the four women raced through their duties every day to get to enjoy the snow afterwards. 

Fareeha had called Angela every day in the morning and right before bed, and there was never a shortage of things to talk about with her. She’d kept her updated on life back home, and Angela had kept her updated on life here in Canada. The snow was still something Fareeha didn’t take a liking to - she kept going on about how strange it was that the weather could just make water freeze, and Angela promised to bring her back an icicle to thoroughly examine sometime. 

“Hey, everyone! Come take a picture for Emily!” Lena called to them. The agents all gathered around her as she fixed her hat, and held up her phone “What’re we gonna say?”

“Wish you were here to see Lena get a snowball to the face?”

“Hm?” Lena didn’t have time to react as Angela pitched a snowball at her, and squealed as the snow ran down the back of her coat. 

“Oh, I can’t believe you!” she shouted as Mei and Zarya dissolved into giggles. She quickly packed another one and chucked it at Angela, and before they knew it they were in an all-out snowball fight on top of the hill.

It felt like they were kids again as they threw snowballs at each other, laughing and shouting like they had nothing to worry about in the world. Their mini-battle lasted for a few minutes, Zarya taking more than her fair share of pelts as Mei’s stand-in shield. After everyone had snow down every opening in their clothes, Angela picked up Lena’s fallen phone. “Lena, do you still want that picture for Emily?”

“Oh yeah, I do!” she said, taking it and waving her hands at all three of them. “Guys, come in, come in!” 

Angela put her head on Lena’s shoulder as Zarya curled her arm around her, Mei also poking her head into the frame. The agents smiled wide as Lena snapped the picture, Angela feeling more relaxed and carefree than she had in months. 

Lena gasped when she saw the picture. “You were right, Aleksandra, my earmuffs do look ridiculous. And, oh god, I’ve gone red in the face again.” She sighed happily. “Emily’ll love this.”

“How is she doing, by the way?” Angela asked. She hadn’t heard much about Lena’s girlfriend during the agents' nightly conversations. She’d seen them holocalling a few times, and had heard Lena’s of some phone calls, but no other details had come up during the mission. Maybe she was trying to ignore the fact that she wasn’t here to spend the holidays with her - Angela could obviously understand the feelings. 

“She’s great. Her whole family’s coming over for Christmas next week, and they all wanna meet me for the first time. I told her I might have to rain check it, but Em already planned everything around this transfer,” Lena’s smile quickly turned into a full-on beam as she started talking about Emily. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“I’d love to meet her someday,” Angela said. “The way you talk about her makes her sound like she’s the best person on earth.”

“Oh, you know how it is with girls.” Lena snorted. She took off her hat and shook out a mound of snow. “They’re all the best people on earth. Em’s definitely up in the top five, though. I’m so lucky to have her - I don’t think anyone else would’ve been able to put up with me for this long.”

“Angie! Lena! Stop talking and come help us with this snowman!”

Angela ducked as another snowball whizzed past her head, Mei quickly pretending like she hadn’t thrown it. Lena dashed over to wrap her scarf around the little snowman, and Angela picked a few sticks off the ground for arms on her way over. This was one of the best winters she’d had in a while - she was glad she’d taken Mei’s advice, and hadn’t let Overwatch’s overshadowing mess ruin it for her. 

 

One of the best things about Winnipeg was its good selection of pine trees. Zarya and Mei had cut down a perfect Christmas tree together a few days ago, and lugged it into the house to sit right beside the gas fireplace where Lena had wanted it. It had slowly been decorated with light bulbs and anything shiny the agents could dig up, and was starting to look like a real Christmas tree that didn’t smell like cheap plastic to Mei.

The holiday season was moving fast. Hanukkah had come and gone, Lena had been declared their dreidel champion, and the emergency candles in the homemade menorah were still burning bright in the common room. Now everyone was counting down the days until Christmas except for Zarya, who insisted they were all celebrating too early. Surprisingly, Angela found herself getting into the spirit of the season along with them - even though she didn’t celebrate, she could certainly enjoy hearing everyone’s old stories and terrible renditions of holiday songs. 

As the agents finished grabbing snacks and making tea, Angela went through her messages. She had five missed calls - one from Lúcio, two from Genji, and the last two from Fareeha herself. One of the latter had a timestamp from this morning, and another had one from just an hour ago - Angela just must not have heard it ring while she was out sledding. 

She watched the snow fall as she filled up a glass of water to take her estrogen pills with. The mission had cleared up her schedule enough so that she could remember them, something that hadn’t happened very often back home. She was getting to bed earlier and waking up at a good time as a consequence, and now had all the time she needed to take care of her health and transitioning process before she sat down to eat breakfast. 

Mei and Zarya bounded upstairs as Angela flopped down on the couch, gulping down the pills. Someone had figured out how to play music over the comm system, and had put on a never-ending loop of jazzy Christmas tunes for the base. It was calming background noise for Angela to do the mission’s work in, and made her tap her foot now as she checked up on everything back home. 

The messages rolled through themselves as she listened, sinking lower into the couch with every second. Lúcio’s was a weekly support update that she took a few notes on, Genji’s messages were never worth listening to and got deleted, and Fareeha’s first one was her usual good morning message, cute and thoughtful as it always was. 

Angela smiled as the phone automatically went to her next one. This mission couldn’t last much longer - soon she would be home, and get to wrap her arms around Fareeha for the first time in months. She hummed along to the song playing as she daydreamed about the things they could do when they were together again: make cakes, play piano, go dancing…

“Hey Angie. Good news and bad news.”

She stopped humming. Those were never good words to hear. 

“I know you like the good news first, so I’m happy to tell you that Helix finally gave me a Magdy badge. It might be a little late as recognition awards go, but I know you really thought I deserved it after Anubis last year. And the bad news…well, there isn’t any other way to put it. I’m going on another mission.”

Angela’s heart sank straight through the cushions. Another mission so soon? How was that even possible?

“It’s to Hsipaw. We’re leaving at the end of the week, and I don’t know when I’ll get back.” Fareeha sighed, and Angela could feel her disappointment through the phone. “I’m sorry, Angela. I don’t think we’ll see each other before the new year. I tried everything I could to get out, but it just isn’t going to work out. I’m so sorry.”

The message ended before Fareeha could even say goodbye, and static filled Angela’s ears. Another mission. Another month without seeing her. She almost didn’t believe it was happening. Desperately, she tried to call her back, but the phone rang and rang without an answer, and she eventually put the phone down, defeated. 

Angela felt like crying. She knew better than to whine and complain over this, but it was hard not to be hurt by it. All she wanted was to spend time with her girlfriend, just have a day or two where they could be together without any missions or problems getting in the way. Somehow, it seemed like that was too much to ask for. 

Just as she was about to let out a groan and meld with the couch for the rest of the day, the door to the common room opened, and Lena skipped inside. She was humming along to the music before she saw Angela, and stopped “Hey,” she said, putting her hands into her pockets. “Is something up?”

“I’m fine,” Angela sighed. “Just a little tired.”

Lena raised a brow. “You say that all the time, Angie. I know you got a full eight hours last night.” Before Angela could protest, Lena had made her way over to the couch, and plunked down beside her. “Tell me what’s up.”

Angela let out the groan. “They’re sending Fareeha on another mission. To Hsipaw, and she can’t get out of it. I didn’t think she’d go out again until the new year, especially since she just got back…”

“Oh, no,” Lena’s voice fell suddenly from her usual whistle-pitch. “They didn’t... and just when you thought you were going to get to spend the rest of the month with her, right?”

“I should’ve expected it to happen.” Angela said. She really should’ve remembered what being Overwatch agent was like. What Morrison had said two weeks ago was still right; things did move fast around there, and she was far from keeping up with any of it. 

“No, no, there’s no way you should’ve expected Overwatch to do this,” Lena sighed. “I didn’t know they were sending them off so soon.”

“It’s not your fault, Lena.” Angela reassured her. “You’re not the one in charge of everything.” Lena sounded genuinely upset about Fareeha’s upcoming mission - Angela hoped she wasn’t offending her. Lena had quite a few hands in the decisions that were made over missions - judging by her reaction, someone had organized this unexpectedly, and she’d had no say in it. 

“But I should’ve at least known something was happening there.” It always unsettled Angela to see Lena unhappy; they’d been friends since the old days of Overwatch, and after all the struggle she’d been through, Angela knew she deserved much better than having to make so many decisions with such a large impact.

“I know how much you wanted to spend time with Fareeha. And so close to the holidays, too… I wish there was something I could do about it, Angie.”

“You don’t have to do anything, Lena,” Angela reassured her. “If you didn’t know, you didn’t know.”

“Has she tried talking to Winston? I could ask him to let her off for an urgent notice…”

Angela shook her head. “No, no. It’s better if we don’t mess with any important plans. I wouldn’t want to put the fate of the world in danger over not getting to see my girlfriend.”

“Oh god, important plans,” Lena said, sinking into the couch like a rock into the sea. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember what we’re fighting for. Being away from home, missing my city and girlfriend like crazy… it makes me wish I never even helped put out the recall in the first place.”

“Don’t say that. The recall’s done so much for all of us.” Angela went to take Lena’s hand, and held it tight. “You’re doing a great job as a commander. A few people not getting to be with their partners for the holidays has got to be the least of your concerns”

“But you are important, Angie.” Lena said, squeezing her hand back. It was clear that she’d been bottling up some feelings for the last five months, and Angela was glad she was getting them out now. There was no way to know which direction the war with Talon would go next, and they all needed to be strong in the face of such danger. 

It had been so easy to forget about what was happening back home on this mission. The tobogganing and the snowball fights had been a fantastic break from everything, but they’d had so much of it that they’d forgotten why they were here in the first place. Angela hated thinking about the global war they were constantly fighting for Overwatch, but she couldn’t ignore it, not when it was causing this much stress and division between agents. 

“You’re not being petty, Ang,” Lena broke the silence with. “Missing Fareeha is completely understandable. I used to get the same worries about my family, back before all this Talon nonsense started. I couldn’t bear to think about what might happen if they got kidnapped, or killed, or if any of that happened to me…”

Angela let her talk. Old Overwatch was never a popular conversation topic, and Lena had never talked about it with Angela before. She’d been so young when everything had happened, seen all that death and destruction before she should’ve had to care. Nowadays she was so positive that Angela forgot that her past actually stuck with her, and how much today’s troubles reminded her of what she’d once gone through.

“Now that I’m on my own, I feel the same way with Emily. I’ve been trying so hard to keep her out of Talon’s radar in case they get any ideas, keep her away from this whole war… it must be so much harder for her to know where I am all the time, and have to wonder if I’ll even get to come back home.”

Angela tightened her grip on Lena’s hand. “I can’t believe you have to go through all of this. It’s horrible.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s all part of the job description,” Lena smiled wearily. “At least I’m telling it to someone who knows what it’s like. Every time I get down about commanding stuff, I try and remember who I’m fighting for. We go on all these missions and stay awake all these hours just so we can make the world a little safer for the people we love. I do it for Em every day, you do it for Fareeha, and she’s out there right now doing it for you.”

“You look at it with optimism?”

“Not necessarily optimism, but with a brighter lens. It takes a lot of energy to do it, but you can only vent like this so many times a month,” Lena said. “Thanks for listening me complain, by the way. I’m sorry I couldn’t be much help with changing Fareeha’s mission.”

“Don’t. You’ve been much more help than I could’ve asked for.” Angela said, smiling, and Lena pulled her into a tight, clutching hug. 

The two women went quiet as they held each other. It had been more than the right decision to talk to Lena about missing Fareeha. If there had been anyone to talk about it with, it was Lena; she knew exactly what Angela was going through, and didn’t think any less of her for being down about it. How lucky she was to have friends like this was something she could never fully understand. 

“This’ll all be over soon,” Lena said, letting go of Angela. “I promise, in a few months, we’re gonna be looking back on this whole war and laughing. Well, maybe not laughing, but certainly not crying. And you’re gonna get to see Fareeha soon - I just know it’s gonna happen.”

“When will you get to see Emily again?” Angela asked.

“Christmas eve. I’m getting off our fight in London. It’s been a few months since I last was home, so we’re gonna have lots to catch up on.”

“Tell her she’s incredibly lucky to have you.” Angela said, and Lena chuckled. 

“She’s worth all of the worries. Just knowing she loves me gives me all the strength I need.”

A new Christmas song had started to play on the speakers. Angela curled up her legs beneath her as Lena got up off the couch, leaving as quickly as she’d arrived. 

“You can stay if you’d like, Lena.” Angela offered, but Lena shook her head.

“Nah. I’ve got some reports to finish filing away.” She was making herself more tea in the kitchen as the scent wafted over to Angela’s nose. “But thanks for talking with me. You know, we could all use some more time to talk with each other. That might help us all get through the long run.”

She poured her tea. “Please have snow and mistletoe, and presents by the tree…” The music kept playing as Lena sung along quietly. Angela thought on what she’d said, that missing Fareeha was completely natural. It made sense, and she no longer felt like she was just complaining - after all, wasn’t Fareeha her strength just as much as Emily was Lena’s?

She let herself melt into the couch as Lena left the room, taking the scent of camomile with her. Once again, Angela tried to think of the benefits of Fareeha’s upcoming mission. For starters, she wouldn’t be stuck at home alone for weeks, and wouldn’t have to spend her month listening to boring briefs….

Alright, so it was a little difficult to see the benefits. But maybe this bad situation would make room for more good things to happen in the future. Maybe, once Fareeha was back for good, Angela would appreciate her even more than ever before. Lena certainly seemed to do that with Emily, and they spent months without so much as being in the same room. Maybe things would work out for her the way they worked out for them. 

Angela really hoped they would. Her attempts at positivity were helping, but she wasn’t sure how many more hits her heart could take before it split for good.


	4. Chapter 4

The mission was over. It was the 23rd of December, and Angela was zipping up the last pocket of her duffel. The Winnipeg base was ready to be put into use, and with all the diagnostics done and sent off, the agents were ready to go home. Home to a place where it never snowed, where everyone was on call every hour of the day, and where Angela and Fareeha’s residence sat empty, waiting for someone to make it feel full again. 

The emergency candles in the menorah had finally burned out. Most of the holiday decorations had been taken down, and they’d shut off all the power in any building that wasn’t the residence. Christmas music had stopped playing and the gas fireplace had stopped working, but snow was still falling, and the whole base felt like a winter wonderland. Angela was sad to leave Canada behind, but she knew she could only wear thermal pyjamas to bed for so much longer. 

Now, all four women were lounging around the Christmas tree, finishing the rest of their packing and talking about their new year’s resolutions. Drinks had been poured and sipped, and they’d turned to telling embarrassing stories about each other as everyone fought to stay awake. They wouldn’t get much more of this free time once the mission was over - it was their last chance to have a casual, night time conversation about nothing to do with global destruction. 

“Before we go,” Angela sat up straight in her armchair, putting her duffel on the ground. “I wanted to say something.”

Mei and Zarya moved in closer as she started to talk. “This mission was one of the worst things that could’ve happened to me. When I got told that I was being transferred to this base, I wanted to quit my job right then and there. I couldn’t have imagined going all the way across the world to do more work, get less sleep, and miss the holidays just because I had to. But now that it’s over, I wish I’d never been upset about it in the first place.

“We’ve all had hard years,” she continued, Zarya yawning in the background. “After everything that’s happened, we’ve had to work harder, be stronger, and do more than we’ve ever done. I don’t know if it’s going to get worse from here, or if some holiday miracle will make Talon have a change of heart and give us all our rightfully-deserved breaks...”

“But we can always dream.” Lena said, and Angela nodded. 

“Yes, we can do that, but we can also do what I’ve been trying to do since I got here. I’ve certainly been thrown for a ride by this mission, but through it all, I’ve tried to look on the bright side. Whether that meant making snow angels or getting to bed at eight o’clock, I’ve been making the best out of an unhappy situation, and it’s made my December absolutely wonderful. You all have made this mission worth being forced onto, and I couldn’t be more thankful for your support and comfort in these hard times.”

She smiled as Mei raised her cup to her. “So thank you. For making these holidays some of the best ones I’ve ever had.”

“To the holidays!” Mei said, taking a gulp before she could even toast it to anyone. 

“And to Angela,” Zarya said. “Who writes speeches I didn’t even know we were supposed to make.”

“And to you, Aleksandra - I don’t know what we would’ve done without your wakeup calls.” Angela said. 

Zarya shrugged as Lena laughed at her. “Well, someone had to do it. If I weren’t there you would’ve all slept in till the day was done.”

“You mean like you did last Tuesday?” Mei nudged her in the stomach, and Zarya groaned. 

“That was one time, Mei, one time.”

“Well, I’m glad we all had a good time. I really appreciated getting out of the meeting rooms for once and spending my holidays around some of the gayest girls I’ve ever met.” Lena carefully raised her mug of hot cocoa in a toast. There was already a spill on her holiday sweater, and she didn’t want to do any more laundry than she had to back home. 

“I think that title might actually go to you, Lena.”

“Who, me?” Lena looked around with raised brows. 

“Personally, I don’t know anyone else who paints spoons in rainbow colours for Christmas ornaments.” Zarya said, motioning to the section of the tree that Lena had decorated.

Lena looked up at the no-longer-silver silverware, and shrugged. “Well, okay, maybe me.”

“Then to Lena, the gayest girl in Canada, England, and possibly the world.” Mei giggled as she took another drink. 

“I’ll gladly take that title.” Lena smirked, spilling some of her drink onto her sweater and sighing. 

They kept drinking and talking for at least another half-hour, some of the others coming up with speeches about holiday spirit and the power of consecutive mugs of tea. Angela kept sneaking looks at her phone throughout it, smiling to herself as she read her message history with Fareeha. She knew that tomorrow they would be in the exact same predicament, but she was trying not to let it hurt her. No matter how much she hated it, there really was nothing she could do to get her home. 

Soon enough, Mei fell asleep on the couch, and everyone else decided to head to bed. Zarya helped Angela put away the cups as Lena gave Mei a blanket and zipped upstairs. “You aren’t still worried about Amari, are you?” Zarya asked when she saw Angela’s phone resting on the counter. 

“I think I always am, Aleksandra.”

“I know this probably won’t change your mind about anything, but I wouldn’t worry about her coming home safe,” Zarya said as she put a mug back into the cupboard. “Fareeha Amari is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. She could take a particle cannon to the face and not get a single scratch on her nose.”

“It’s not her fighting skills I’m worried about. It’s her happiness. The way she talks about missing me almost makes me feel bad for missing her.”

“But why are you missing each other?” Zarya asked. “You’ve been right with each other this entire time. Just because you can’t touch her doesn’t mean she isn’t there, you know.”

Angela didn’t respond as she finished putting away the mugs. “If I were you, I would’ve spent my energy appreciating her calls. Not that you don’t, but think of all the time you two must’ve wasted saying you miss each other when you were talking right to each other’s faces. Half of that time probably could’ve been spent talking about your favourite type of dogs, or something like that.”

Angela sighed. Zarya’s blunt logic was right, of course, but she didn’t have the energy to think harder about it. “How do you and Mei constantly know better than me?” she asked. “I swear, you should start a relationship counselling service.”

Zarya shrugged. “There’s no need for counselling. Just a new angle to look from. You’re already looking on the bright side, so maybe you can also start looking on the right side.”

They walked upstairs together, Angela squinting in the bright light of her phone. She really had spent a lot of time missing Fareeha when her face was right in front of her, but it wasn’t the same as having her whole body in front of her. Yes, she could appreciate all the phone calls and text messages, and she certainly had, but being there with her was just different - it was just better.

“Does having her here help?” Angela asked Zarya before they went into their separate rooms. “Mei, I mean.”

“I suppose. But I am in no different boat than you, Angela,” Zarya said, taking off her sweater. “Being away from someone is hard, yes, but you’ve got to love them while you can. I know you already do - no need to reassure me. You and Amari are what I aim to be with Mei-Ling someday.”

“Really? You and Mei were always my relationship role models.”

“Then I suppose we will just have to be ourselves,” Zarya said. “Get a good night’s sleep, Angela.”

She shut her bedroom door as Angela walked into her own across the hall. Looking away from last night’s messages, she turned off her phone, and tossed it on her bed. The curtains stayed open as she brushed her teeth, watching the rough snowfall come down onto the rest of the Winnipeg base.

 

The fifteen-hour flight back to Gibraltar felt like no time at all. Angela was asleep for most of it, dreaming about gingerbread coffee and skating with Fareeha again. Now that she was out of Winnipeg, warm weather felt like a fantasy, and she couldn’t possibly imagine a place that had any less that three centimetres of snow. 

Lena had woken her up to give her a goodbye hug as she got off at the London layover. She’d promised to tell Emily about everything they’d talked about, and slip in the possibility of having a double-date sometime. It had been a little sad to watch her go, but Angela knew she was going home to the woman she loved more than anything, and that made her satisfied enough to wave goodbye. 

Christmas lights were up everywhere in the Gibraltar airport. Mei bought Zarya a holly-patterned neck pillow the moment they got off the plane, presumably sick of having her weight on her shoulder all the way home. Giant fake trees lined the baggage claim walls, and Christmas music played quietly in the background as the remaining three agents took their stuff off the roundabout and moved them through the declarations area. 

“I guess I’ll be seeing you two tomorrow,” Angela said as the three walked outside into the warm Gibraltar evening. “Are you taking a taxi home?”

“Probably,” Zarya said. “I think they forgot to send a car for us.”

“That’s okay. I’ll wait as long as I have to if you don’t ditch me, Alex.” Mei plunked her bag down on the sidewalk and sat on it, wrapping her heavy jacket around her waist. They hadn’t even been gone for a day yet, and Angela was already wishing she could live in the snow all year-round. 

“You know I have nowhere better to be, Mei.” Zarya said. She leaned down to hug her, but Mei went in for a kiss instead. They kissed like they did it all the time, casual and full of enough love to make even the most stoic person smile. Angela was happy for the two of them, but also felt a tug on her own heartstrings, knowing she would be going home to an empty bed and home yet again. 

She said her goodnights to Zarya and Mei once they broke apart, and left the airport for the city. The watchpoint was more than a few miles away, and she didn’t want to go back just yet. All she needed was time to herself, just to walk around somewhere less familiar and think of something other than how much she was missing Fareeha. 

Downtown Gibraltar was glowing with life. Tall office buildings and tiny family shops alike were decorated with trees, lights, and messages of peace. Bells were ringing on every street, and people walked hand-in-hand with family members and lovers all along the sidewalks. The whole atmosphere was just as warm as the weather, and on Christmas eve, it really felt like everyone had come together just to be happy in each other’s presence. 

Angela trudged around the town for a while. She admired ornaments in shop windows, examining the prettier ones up close and giggling to herself about the sillier ones. She bought the groceries that Fareeha had wanted, getting extra cake to snack on instead of sleeping tonight. She pet dogs and gave donations, took pictures and greeted new people, all while wishing she wasn’t here by herself, and had someone to appreciate the magic of the night with. 

Eventually, the lights lost their spark, and Angela started to walk home. She bought some impulse things on her way out, including cheap Christmas lights and the last of a bakery’s jelly donuts, two of which she ate while walking. It took her longer than it should have to get back to the watchpoint, and it was long past midnight when she finally saw the shadow of the base in the rock. 

Home was silent and dark. Angela fumbled with the facial recognition at the residence building door before dragging herself inside, everything quiet enough for her to hear her shoes clicking against the padded floor. Her bags weighed down her arms as she went down the hall, up the stairs and past the kitchen, wondering if she had her keys on her or if she’d have to dig into her luggage for them.

As she walked, she wondered why she even bothered to call Gibraltar home. It didn’t feel like a warm, safe place to be anymore - the walls were ugly coloured just like Winnipeg, and she could already feel her stress coming back to sit on her shoulders. All this time she’d been waiting to go home, and now that she was here, it felt like she’d just been transferred again. But nothing really felt right nowadays, after all - she didn’t know why she was still surprised. 

Angela turned her key in the lock. She propped her luggage against the door and slid inside with a yawn. The lights were already on, and she squinted in them as she picked up one of her heaviest shopping bags. Tomorrow was a new day; she could wake up late, take her pills, eat breakfast and call Fareeha in the morning. For now, she had clothes to unpack, laundry to do, and a thermostat that needed to be turned up a notch. Why was it so cold in here, anyway?

“Angie?”

Angela dropped the bag. No. She couldn’t have heard who she just heard. It wasn’t possible. What day was it today? December the twenty-fourth, or the twenty-fifth, barely a week after she’d gotten the message… that voice had no reason to be inside her room. Unless…

Angela’s heart started pounding. Her head raced as she ran to the kitchen, breathing like a marathon runner on her last lap. The lights got dimmer as she got closer, noticing a pair of boots against the wall and a bomber jacket hung up on the coat rack. She braced herself as she looked inside the room, not knowing what to expect, and felt her heart snap when she saw who was there. 

Fareeha was standing at the table, a mug of tea in her hand and an old sweater tied around her waist. She stared at Angela with wide eyes, her mouth unmoving and silent as Angela stared back, still in her flight clothes, not blinking in case she’d vanish if her eyes closed. 

“You’re home.” Fareeha said, and Angela couldn’t take it any longer. 

She dropped all her bags on the ground and ran right into her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her like a bear. Her face buried itself into Fareeha’s shirt, breathing in fresh leather and orange shampoo and everything that had been driving her crazy for the past two months. Fareeha almost didn’t feel real - she’d gotten taller, her hair had gotten shorter, she had darker skin, brighter eyes and stronger hands, she was here and she was real. She was home. They were home together. 

Angela felt tears slipping out of her ducts as she hugged Fareeha tighter, hands digging into her back. “I’ve missed you so much.” she managed to say before tears really started to fall, and she let herself cry out of joy, shock and relief all at the same time. 

Fareeha kissed the side of her face, and Angela raised her head to kiss her back, her sadness washing away as their lips met like old friends. Fareeha was soft, warm, everything Angela remembered and even more. Kissing her felt like falling onto the couch after a long day of work, like curling up in bed with a cup of tea and her favourite book. It was familiar, beautiful, everything she’d ever wanted home to be. Gibraltar was nothing without Fareeha there. She was Angela’s real home. 

Fareeha squeezed her sides as they broke apart. “I missed you too, _habibti_. I swear, I’m never leaving for that long again. Jack Morrison couldn’t drag me out of this room if he used all the soldiers in the world.”

“You better not go anywhere. I’m glueing the door shut for the next two weeks, I swear, Fareeha.”

“You won’t need to. There’s nothing that can make me leave you ever again.”

Angela didn’t even bother to make her promise. She put her lips back onto Fareeha’s, and let her whole body relax. Being in the same room as her filled the missing piece of her heart, two halves coming to form one whole. No phone call or holo message could compare to this, hugging each other and laughing as they cried. Nothing could compare to this - not snow, not the holidays, not even victory for Overwatch over Talon. All they needed was each other, kissing in a room that finally felt alive again. 

 

Fareeha’s fingers glided over the piano like skates on ice. The melody she played was one Angela had heard hundreds of times, yet never got sick of. Notes floated into the air and fell like snowflakes, the classical tune coming to her effortlessly, not even the out-of-tune notes being enough to distract Angela from falling in love all over again. 

They’d sat in the kitchen eating dinner and unpacking all Angela’s bags for an hour. It had been hard not to just sit and kiss instead, but Fareeha had wanted to know everything about Winnipeg and the flight back, and Angela wanted to hear everything that had happened while she was away. They’d eaten the rest of the coffee cake and jelly donuts, and Fareeha had hung up extra mistletoe over the fridge, giving Angela no escape from her arms. 

“I told Winston I got the flu in Bangladesh.” Fareeha explained as she played. It was long past midnight, yet neither of them felt tired when they were with each other. “He had to agree that no matter how important the mission was, making sure no one came down sick took priority. It was a pathetic excuse, but it worked.”

“And I’m glad it did.” Angela was sitting next to her on the bench, changed out of her flight clothes and wearing one of Fareeha’s band t-shirts. They’d agreed to do laundry tomorrow while everyone else was out celebrating Christmas, and spend the rest of the night in each other’s company that they’d missed so much. 

“So does that mean I have to give you a checkup?” Angela asked, and Fareeha chuckled. 

“I guess it does.” Her hands rested on the piano as the song ended, and Angela gave her a little applause. “Do you want to get to checking me out right now?”

“No, I think I can more than wait for work.” Angela said, and smiled as Fareeha leaned in and kissed her again. She’d missed this more than anything, and wouldn’t give it up for any force on earth. Happiness couldn’t describe how she felt sitting beside her - she was ecstatic, relieved, calm, fulfilled and proud all at once when it came to Fareeha. She’d gotten her miracle, and her holidays were peaceful, just as they should always be. 

“I learned a new song yesterday,” Fareeha said once they stopped kissing. “Do you want to hear it?”

“When do I not want to hear you play, _schatzi_?” Angela leaned closer, wrapping her arms around Fareeha’s waist. She let her head rest on her shoulder as the song drifted out from the piano, watching Fareeha’s fingers rise and fall onto the keys like skis down a mountainside. Everything was perfect in this moment. No one could know what disaster or problem was going to come out of the woodwork next, but when it did, Angela and Fareeha would always have each other as their strength, their lover, and their place to call home. 

Fareeha’s song became familiar, and Angela kissed her cheek one more time. “I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me…” 

She melted into her girlfriend as the night wound on, as the piano played and Angela’s voice sang. It was everything she could’ve asked for and so much more. Everything was finally on the bright side. 

“You will always find me, where the love light gleams… I’ll be home for the holidays, if only in my dreams…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy holidays to everyone, and have a great new year!!


End file.
